The Blade Itself
by Marcus Sakey
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The Blade Itself by Marcus Sakey
Flint native Marcus Sakey has pounced unto the literary scene with his first novel The Blade Itself. This visceral thriller goes beyond the standard thriller genre and quickly becomes a story of love, redemption, and the broken bonds of brotherhood. Sakey, who now calls Chicago home, has written a novel that brings the cold blasts and gritty streets of the windy city to pulse-pounding life.
Sakey’s hero, Danny Carter, is a reformed thief just trying to p...more
Flint native Marcus Sakey has pounced unto the literary scene with his first novel The Blade Itself. This visceral thriller goes beyond the standard thriller genre and quickly becomes a story of love, redemption, and the broken bonds of brotherhood. Sakey, who now calls Chicago home, has written a novel that brings the cold blasts and gritty streets of the windy city to pulse-pounding life.
Sakey’s hero, Danny Carter, is a reformed thief just trying to p...more
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Read in May, 2008
The Blade Itself, by Marcus Sakey, Grade B-plus, narrated by Grover Gardner, produced by audio renaissance, downloaded from audible.com.
This book is up for discussion in June. It is a debut novel and totally gripping.
Publisher’s note:
On the South Side of Chicago, you're only as strong as your reputation. Danny Carter and his best friend, Evan, earned theirs knocking over pawnshops and
liquor stores, living from score to score, and never thinking about tomorrow. Then a job went desp...more
This book is up for discussion in June. It is a debut novel and totally gripping.
Publisher’s note:
On the South Side of Chicago, you're only as strong as your reputation. Danny Carter and his best friend, Evan, earned theirs knocking over pawnshops and
liquor stores, living from score to score, and never thinking about tomorrow. Then a job went desp...more
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Disappointed. Especially when I found this author through an author I really did like. Most especially when I read the first chapter online and found it an exciting and well-written read. To top it off, the back cover and website were oozing with praise. T_T So my hopes were terribly high.
To make it worse, I can't even spell out why I didn't like it. It was well-written, all the grammar was there, and it was definitely heads above almost everything I've read from the romance genre. But ...more
To make it worse, I can't even spell out why I didn't like it. It was well-written, all the grammar was there, and it was definitely heads above almost everything I've read from the romance genre. But ...more
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Read in December, 2007
The Blade Itself
Marcus Sakey
St. Martin’s Press, 2007, 307 pps.
ISBN No. 978-0-312-36031-3
Life is good for Danny Carter until an old buddy from the past sends Danny’s life spinning in a whirlwind that just will not quit.
Danny has a successful job in construction. He lives with Karen the love of his life. He has put his life of crime behind him or so he thinks. Then Evan is released from jail and Danny’s life is thrown into a turmoil from which he cannot recover without casualties ...more
Marcus Sakey
St. Martin’s Press, 2007, 307 pps.
ISBN No. 978-0-312-36031-3
Life is good for Danny Carter until an old buddy from the past sends Danny’s life spinning in a whirlwind that just will not quit.
Danny has a successful job in construction. He lives with Karen the love of his life. He has put his life of crime behind him or so he thinks. Then Evan is released from jail and Danny’s life is thrown into a turmoil from which he cannot recover without casualties ...more
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Danny and Evan grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a working class neighborhood. They became partners in crime, stealing cars and doing small time burglaries, until Evan escalated the stakes with a pawn shop robbery gone bad. Danny managed to get away but Evan does hard time; while Evan's in prison, Danny's been scared straight. He's a project manager for a small construction company, has a nice apartment and a great girlfriend - as long as he stays straight. So when Evan gets paroled seven ...more
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Read in December, 2007
A good look at the gritty part of Chicago that those of us who love to visit the city rarely see: the working class people and neighborhoods not in anyone's rehab/gentrification plans, and not that close to the most fashionable el stops.
The story's protagonist has - he thinks - escaped from that milieu and the mistakes he made, and now works as a construction project manager on some of the more trendy urban rehab jobs. His past catches up to him in the person of an old partner in crime who ...more
The story's protagonist has - he thinks - escaped from that milieu and the mistakes he made, and now works as a construction project manager on some of the more trendy urban rehab jobs. His past catches up to him in the person of an old partner in crime who ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This is a very suspenseful Chicago based crime novel. I received it as a Christmas gift from my son who works in a Chicago bookstore. Ben looks for Chicago based literature for me since I am originally from the area. This book I found to be amazing since it is the author's first novel. The plot is tight, the characters real. The protaganist, Danny, is caught in a conflict that can only be called terrifying. The antagonist, Evan, is a prototypical psychopath. Sakey builds tension in much th...more
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Read in March, 2008
I'm typically not a pulp paperback reader but many times I'm pleasantly surprised sometimes when a friend hands me something I wouldn't have otherwise read. "The Blade Itself" is a nice find. It's quick read piece of crime fiction that is well written and paced. At the center of the novel is a conflicted character (Danny) struggling to fight off the mistakes of his past and keep his new life protected. But unfortunately its no so easy when an old buddy from the streets comes back to ar...more
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This is a great example of mediocre crime fiction. The happy “Hollywood” ending is sooo predictable. There are no surprises here, and nothing is done well enough to make you sit up and take notice. The good Chicago contractor leaving his checkered past behind has a problem: the psycho ex-partner who went down for the last job they pulled – blames our protagonist. When our man can’t be lured back into a partnership in crime, the psycho takes all the appropriate measures: namely threatenin...more
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Read in March, 2007
This book is a very interesting, well-written thriller. The main character was a bad kid, but is now reformed. However, his past comes back to haunt him with a vengence and he is caught by past actions he wanted to leave far behind. Most thrillers keep you on the edge of your seat, but this one read more intelligently. Rather than being a thriller about the CIA and foreign governments, this one hit home. What if the bad things you've done in the past (even if they weren't THIS bad) came back...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
thriller enthusiasts
Read this book for the library book discussion to support the all new Chicago Public Library Adult Summer Reading Program, City of Big Readers: Summer Reads for Adults.
I was hoping from the review that it would be far better written. It was a good thriller, but nothing special. The plot did keep me turning the pages and there were moments that I thought Mr. Sakey showed great promise, but in the end, it was just a quick read.
But, then again, this is not my normal genre.
I was hoping from the review that it would be far better written. It was a good thriller, but nothing special. The plot did keep me turning the pages and there were moments that I thought Mr. Sakey showed great promise, but in the end, it was just a quick read.
But, then again, this is not my normal genre.
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What would happen if two guys from a poor neighborhood grow up as partners in crime, until the day when one of them gets stupid and shoots someone during a robbery and the other one walks away? Seven years later the one who walked has gone straight and made a respectable new life for himself. The shooter has been hardened by prison and is bent on revenge. This is a tough, fast-paced story that reads like a Tarantino movie. I didn't think I would like it, but I did.
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Read in August, 2008
Danny makes a mistake...robbing a pawn shop after dark. His accomplice brings a gun and shoots the owner...Danny runs and his friend does not turn him in but serves his time in prison. Danny builds a good life with a great job and a supportive girl friend. His friend gets out of prison and comes looking for Danny. This book asks the question...how far will you go to protect those you love?
Very exciting thriller.
Very exciting thriller.
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Read in June, 2007
This was one I 'read' with my ears. I think had I done the page turning thing, I might not have stuck with it. It's an interesting story but not really compelling. But it was well told and that kind of made up for the holes. Danny is trying to turn his life of crime into a law abiding life of meaning but the road isn't easy. And then his former partner gets out of prison with a grudge.
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Read in April, 2008
Liked the book for the most part. I hate not to finish a book but I am so not into reading about a guy who's gone straight being blackmailed back into a life of crime. I hate that sinking feeling of watching someone on a downward spiral after making something out of his life. But the writer made the characters easy to "feel" for so I continued with the read.
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Read in July, 2007
I'm not a huge fan of crime or thriller fiction, but I decided to read this because of the setting. I also read it for the first adult summer book club at the Chicago Public Library (yay!). I thought many of the plot points were hackneyed and when an author gets a few basic details wrong about Chicago neighborhoods, it ruins the experience for me.
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Read in January, 2008
Sakey makes good use of his Chicago setting (especially its ubiquitous and unending construction), but throughout the book you can't help but wonder how on earth he can wrap it up in a way that works. By ratcheting up the danger level so much, the ending seems off-kilter and not entirely plausible (not to mention a bit too neat).
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Read in December, 2007
Exploring the ethical dilemmas of a criminal turned legit, this book shows an intimate understanding of the dark side of Chicago. The book is a fast read (I started it on a Friday afternoon and finished before bedtime on Saturday). It's no surprise that Sakey has sold the film rights - the novel reads like watching a movie.
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Read in March, 2008
This book is fast-paced and easily read. But in terms of suspense and thrills, it is not as intense as I expected. The ending is sort of predictable and rather sentimental. Cannot be compared to Dennis Lehane as written by some reviewers in the book. However, it is a good promise of a new author for me to look out for.
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Read in June, 2008
this book was a very quick read, very engrossing, but not particularly well-written. better than, say, james patterson, but somewhat basic prose. it would be a great beach read. for better or for worse, i'm sure someone will option it to make it into a screenplay, which might be just what the author is hoping for.
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